Page 27 - April 2007 The Game

Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper The Game, April 2007 27
Winterbook Favours Twilight Meteor and Leonnatus Anteas
Will an American-based three year old win this year's Queen's Plate? That could be the case, according to the Winterbook, which has established hypothetical odds on all 131 nominated horses (120 colts, 11 fillies) for the 148th running of Canada's most important race.
Twilight Meteor, owned by Peachtree Stables of Camden, South Carolina and trained by Todd Pletcher, gets top nod from the Winterbook and is listed at odds of 3-1. The second favourite is the undefeated colt Leannatus Anteas who is 5-1. Locally owned and trained, Leonnatus Anteas, was named Canada's top Two Year Old Male at the 2006 Sovereign Awards.
Twilight Meteor (3-1), a chestnut son of Smart Strike, attracts attention because of his recent back-to-back wins in two Stakes events, the Bourbon on October 27 at Keeneland and the Hallandale Beach at Gulfstream, on February 24.
"The Queen's Plate is definitely on the radar for him," said Pletcher, who saddled Sterwins to a second-place finish in last year's Plate. Twilight Meteor was scheduled to run in the $500,000 Lanes End Stakes at Turfway on March 24, which would certainly give him a considerable edge fitness-wise, over many of the Canadian horses that have not even raced yet.
"He could come up for the Plate Trial after the Lane's End and then go to the Plate," suggests Pletcher. "He's doing very well and should handle the 11/4 mile distance no problem."
Bred by Kinghaven Farms, Twilight Meteor is a son of Canadian-bred stallion Smart Strike out of One Over Prime, whose sire, With Approval, won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1989. Twilight Meteor has three wins and a second in five career starts.
Leonnatus Anteas (5-1) is a worthy prospect. The son of Stormy Atlantic burst onto the racing scene in mid- August, winning three consecutive Stakes over three different surfaces at Woodbine: the Vandal on the inner dirt track, the Cup & Saucer on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course, and a key Plate prep, the Coronation Futurity, over the Polytrack.
"He's never been a little guy," noted trainer Kevin Attard. "I first saw him last January when I broke him at Payson. When you see him, he looks like a good horse, he has that presence."
Owned by Knob Hill Stable and the Estate of Steve Stavro, the chestnut has spent the winter in Florida.
"He's doing well," said Attard, who recently brought the colt to his Payson Park stable from Harris Training Centre in Ocala. "He was turned out for a while after his campaign and then started swimming at the training centre on February 1."
Attard, who said he was "taking a shot" by running him in a Stakes race, the Vandal, in his first career start last sum- mer, is undecided about Leo's 2007 debut.
This is the tenth straight year that handicapper Jennifer Morrison has com- piled her Winterbook odds. She explained why she preferred Twilight Meteor over
the unbeaten Leonnatus Anteas. "Twilight Meteor was installed the favourite because the American-based colt has proven himself against tougher competition and has already won a Stakes race as a 3 year old,” says Morrison. “He's very versatile as he's won on Polytrack and grass and his season debut - a win in the Hallandale Beach Stakes at the tough Gulfstream Park meeting - was very impressive. The colt's Beyer Figures are in the 90's and that puts him ahead of most of the Canadian-bred 3-year-old
class.”
Rounding out the top five in the Plate
rankings is Cobrador, a U.S.-stationed grey son of El Prado, at 8-1; the Brian Lynch-trained High Act at 12-1 and Display Stakes winner, Jiggs Coz, who is 15-1.
Cobrador, who finished eighth to Leonnatus Anteas in the Coronation Futurity, his only Canadian start to date, is listed at 8-1. Also a son of El Prado, the grey's most recent effort was a third-place finish in the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, at Kentucky's Turfway Park on March 3.
After breaking his maiden in his second lifetime start on September 4 at Arlington Park, the Paul McGee-trained colt has posted two thirds and a second in three of his four most recent performances.
High Act, who launched his career with a runner-up effort on November 5 at Woodbine, has since posted a win and two fourth-place finishes. The victory came at Churchill Downs, the fourths at Gulfstream. The bay colt is owned by Frank Stronach and trained by Brian Lynch.
"He will head back to Woodbine at the end of March and we'll look at the Marine Stakes," said Lynch. "He's a horse with a lot of potential."
Jiggs Coz, who kicked off his career at the Toronto oval on October 9, ended his 2006 campaign with a third to Leonnatus Anteas in the Coronation Futurity and a victory in the Display Stakes on November 25.
Mike Fox is 20-1, with four others at 30-1: Sam-Son Farm's two-year-old champion filly, Catch the Thrill, Sealy Hill, Dancer's Bajan and March to Victory, round out the top 10.
Top 10 Winterbook Favourites Horse Odds Twilight Meteor 3 Leonnatus Anteas 5 Cobrador 8
High Act 12
Jiggs Coz 15
Mike Fox 20
Catch the Thrill(f) 30
Dancer's Bajan 30
March to Victory 30
Sealy Hill(f) 30
Editor’s Note - As we went to press,
the 3-year-old filly Sealy Hill, won the G3 $150,000 Bourbonette Breeders’ Cup Stakes at Turfway in Kentucky. She was ridden by Patrick Husbands and prevailed by a head over the Todd Pletcher trained Panty Raid. Sealy Hill is trained by Mark Casse for the Melnyk Racing Stables Inc.
Riding Chilly
A Head at the Wire
A series of real life stories by Paddy Head majeek05@hotmail.com
Winter had invaded New England with bone chilling temperatures. Suffolk Downs in Massachusetts and Lincoln Downs in Rhode Island squeezed in a few racing days between Christmas and New Year’s and I was suddenly confronted by my first conflict. Test Red,
double and cancel the rest of the card. The trainer, John Kelly, was relieved when I appeared in the saddling paddock where the horses had been walking for over 20 minutes. The little mare and I were raring to go until we set foot on the track. It wasn’t a racetrack, it was a skating rink. We skidded across the surface until we caught a strip of dirt that provided enough traction for my mare’s tiny feet to grasp. I looked at the pony horse’s wide, heavy feet and envied him. I concentrated on studying the surface, looking for a strip of dirt that would give us some grip. In the homestretch, the preferred path was about three horses wide, in the backstretch, it was right on
therail.
When we broke ever so cautiously
from the gate, the two horses on the inside of me were not about to give up the most cherished part of the track. Miss Lili Marlene was a speed horse but she floundered dangerously on the icy track. I sat as quietly as possible, staying over her centre of balance and doing everything I could to keep her up. My primary objective was to finish the race on all four feet. The skating continued into the turn where we barely managed to change leads. The stretch opened up before us with a most welcome sight—a beautifully harrowed strip of dirt. Suddenly, her little hooves came into contact with firm ground and the ever game filly took a hold of the bit. With a chirp of encouragement, I joined in her effort and we breezed past the inside horse and slipped under the wire in first place.
Pulling up presented another challenge. It wasn’t an option in the back- stretch. Forgoing protocol, I galloped along the inside rail, around the turn and into the homestretch, breaking to a trot on the only strip of ground that afforded any grip. As I came to a halt, I caught sight of a furious Rosie, ripping up her daily double ticket. My smile was not apologetic as I rode into the winner’s circle.
the filly who gave me my maiden win, was entered at Suffolk Downs on Dec. 28 and Miss Lili Marlene was entered at Lincoln Downs on the same day. They both looked like winners. My choice to ride Miss Lili Marlene was the most difficult make.
Miss Lili Marlene with Paddy Head 'skating' to victory at Lincoln Downs
decision I’d had to
The temperature had been below freezing for several days, but on this sunny afternoon, the mercury rose enough to allow blood to flow, at least minimally, to the extremities. I was thrilled to know I would have sensation in both hands and feet when we reached the starting gate. But my elation was short lived, when, after the running of the first race, the returning jockeys told horror stories about the track’s condition. No one at Lincoln Downs was prepared to ride on frozen clods of dirt barely covering a thick layer of ice. The experiences related by the jockeys terrified the riders who were named in the second race—all except yours truly. My desire to ride the race didn’t stem from bravado but from desperation. I had turned downed one winning mount at Suffolk and I was determined to make it into the winner’s circle come hell, high water or ice.
Rhode Islanders are a hardy breed and they weren’t about to be denied their holiday betting because of an occasional ice patch. They booed and catcalled from the grandstand as the minutes ticked by and the jockeys hadn’t appeared in the saddling paddock. Rosie, a regular at the mutual windows, called out to us, in her usual raucous tone. “Don’t be so chicken shit! Get out here and give me the second half of my daily double!”
Who could resist that kind of encouragement? After a brief meeting between jockeys and stewards, a compromise was struck. We would ride the second race to complete the daily
Did You Know....
That Sealy Hill’s win on March 24 in the G3 $150,000 Bourbonette Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Turfway Park made it the fifth time conditioner Mark Casse has won that race.
Casse won last year’s Bourbonette with Top Notch Lady. His other winners include Push On (1983), Pretty Sham (1986) and Apella (1990).
It was the second start of the year for the Melnyk Stables owned, Sealy Hill. She was second in an allowance race at Gulfstream Park in January.
Sealy Hill was the winner of the Glorious Song Stakes at Woodbine as a 2-year-old in 2006.